Scotts Valley Unified School District

Dear Scotts Valley Community,

We are moving along at a rapid pace now!  We have a few weeks of in-person instruction under our belts and we are gearing up for spring activities, events, and end of year celebrations.  It is exciting!

Last week I sent out a notification that we finally received our state waiver approval for the “fire days“ and we are able to maintain our current school calendar and end on the originally scheduled date of June 9th. With that, schools are planning for their promotion and graduation activities, while also having to plan for both the orange tier parameters and the yellow tier parameters. Although Santa Cruz County has not yet met the metrics to move into the yellow tier, we are keeping our fingers crossed that will occur for all promotions and graduation celebrations. Planning is in process and as the date draws closer, you will be receiving more information from each site principal.

This week we celebrated Teacher Appreciation Day and Staff Appreciation Week. Thank you to the parent groups who donated generously in support of our amazing teachers and staff! This has been an incredibly challenging year and our teachers and educators deserve a lot of credit and appreciation. Thank you for your continued support of our schools and our staff during this unique year.

Thank you to all the parents who have already responded to the parent survey that we sent out this past week. We are hopeful that all parents will fill out this survey as we are continuing to plan for programmatic and staffing needs for the fall.  The final date for submission is May 14th. When we receive all the information, we will be in further communication about finalized plans for the 2021-22 school year.

We have been successful in vaccinating several 16 and older students who were interested in receiving a Pfizer vaccination and as soon as the 12 and older vaccination is approved and released, we will be making arrangements to provide that as well.

As CDC, CDPH, and Cal OSHA requirements are beginning to shift in terms of outdoor mask-wearing, we will continue to adhere to the same facial covering and social distancing requirements currently in place for the duration of the school year. When we begin the school year in August, we will adhere to the regulations that are in place at that time.

Please read the letter from the Santa Cruz County Superintendents which also addresses some of the topics mentioned above.

The Scotts Valley Educational Foundation and the District's Wellness Committee have collaborated to encourage students and families to get out and move, beginning Monday, May 10. Elementary and Middle School students will be participating with Tic-Tac-Toe cards to help track their exercise, and they can win fun prizes, including a bike!  All families are invited to participate, and can participate in the Wellness Challenge, the Mountain Charlie Challenge, or both.  There are great opportunities to exercise together and enjoy the beautiful weather - check your school newsletter for more information.

Amazingly, we are into the home stretch of this school year.  

Have fun and be safe,

Tanya Krause, Superintendent

Dear Families,

Please complete this very important survey so that we can effectively plan for staffing and programs for the 2021-22 school year.  We need a response for each student in your family.

Thank you for your timely response to this survey!

Survey for 2021-22 School Year

Sincerely,

The SVUSD Administration Team

Dear Scotts Valley Community,

We are pleased to announce that the state has approved our waiver request for the instructional days that were missed due to the CZU Lightning Complex Fires.  Please note that the final student day will be Wednesday, June 9th.  This will be a minimum day schedule at all sites.

Sincerely,

Tanya Krause, Superintendent

Dear Scotts Valley Community,

We are excited to report that we have been able to facilitate providing vaccinations to high school students 16 and up in Santa Cruz County for those who are interested in receiving one. Throughout this past week, we were able to provide vaccinations to local high school students at 3 locations: Soquel High, Scotts Valley, and PVUSD. We were very pleased to be able to provide this opportunity at local high schools. Please see linked superintendent letter.

This week we opened for full in-person instruction at the elementary grades!  As you know, we sent out a survey prior to Spring Break and had assumed that our survey results would be consistent with the last 3 to 4 surveys which yielded a 70% average wanting in-person instruction and 30% wanting remote. This time, the survey results yielded closer to 77% wanting in-person instruction, so we needed to hire an additional teacher in one week in order to adhere to the spacing requirements of 3 feet. Vine Hill needed to hire an additional teacher and Brook Knoll needed to re-roster students and staff. It certainly felt like another new start for all, but it was wonderful to see students back on campus and we are pleased that we have been able to accommodate the new requests.  

Additionally, both sites had asked for parent volunteers to be able to best assist in this transition, and unfortunately not enough parent volunteers completed the volunteer process in order to fill the holes needed. Schools have had to scramble a bit this week with this expanded in-person schedules and the distancing requirements, for additional adult coverage.  If you have the availability to assist with outdoor supervision, please contact the elementary school site and review the district website for volunteer requirements.

On Monday, secondary schools will be expanding in-person learning to four days a week on campus. High School athletics are in their next season of competition and student activities are occurring, and there are more being planned.  It is exciting to see that more student activities are able to be allowed. 

We will be sending out a parent survey in May inquiring about the fall of next year and families’ intent to return to full person instruction, with our current understanding being that we will be able to open full-time in person without social distancing (masking may still be required).  Of course, there could be other unanticipated changes.  Please complete the survey when sent as we will need this information for staffing and program planning. 

We are receiving a lot of questions about whether or not we will have to extend the school year based on the waiver request we made to the state due to the beginning of the school year fires. Keep in mind that we are 1 of 8 districts in this county that have submitted a waiver and have still not received a response. We continue to inquire with the state and our last message back from them looked promising. However, even if we have not received written confirmation from the State of California by May 1, I will make a decision and it will be publicly announced.

As previously mentioned, the next parent training is on Wednesday, April 28 with an expert presenter on Unconscious Bias.  Cornell Verdeja-Woodson has presented to the Trustees, administrators, and staff and he will be providing training via Zoom for parents. This information is on our district website and is linked here as well.  The training has been recently advertised for us by Robert Aldana as well from all of our school sites.

I am very pleased to share that this week we were informed that Christie Danner, SVHS Counselor, has been named Santa Cruz County Counselor of the Year!  She will be recognized at the May SCCOE Board meeting.  Congratulations Christie - well deserved!!

Sincerely,

Tanya Krause, Superintendent